I'm Glad I Still have You
by ScottishGirlx
Summary: A new disease is whipping it's way through America and Damon and Elena find that they are the only ones left in Mystic Falls. What happens when they find a support group of survivors willing to do whatever it takes to live in this post-apocalyptic world? AH
1. Chapter 1

******So this was an idea I had floating around in my head, I hope you enjoy! This is a Delena story, I promise it will develop more Delena!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

The first person to die was a woman. She was 32 years old, quite young. No one knew what was wrong. One minute she was shopping with her kids, laughing as they kept bringing chocolate sweeties over to the trolley, hoping she would take pity on them and buy it. The next, she was collapsed on the floor, not breathing. It had been all over the news, America was panicking. There was no evidence to suggest it was a heart attack, brain haemorrhage or anything like that. It was known as 'The Invisible Killer'. Nobody knew how it effected you, nobody knew how to stop it. Suddenly, the Invisible Killer was wiping out the people in America, one by one. And nobody could stop it. The whole world had disconnected America. No-one was allowed over the border in case the disease spread. No country was willing to try and help, they just prayed that the disease hadn't already twisted it's way into their country.

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><p>Elena was afraid for her life. She and her mother, Isobel, had watched all of the news reports about the disease. Each day she would pray that a cure would be found. She was 18, she felt she was too young too die.<p>

"Everything's going to be alright sweetheart, but we want you to know we love you."

Each night, her parents would utter those words and each night her heart would thud in her chest. Each night could be the last night that she was alive or her parents would be alive.

"I love you too," she would say, the tears streaming down her face. Her parents would both cry as well, they would lay on her bed with her for an hour, remembering funny stories or just sitting talking. This was going on long before the disease made it's way to Mystic Falls.

Elena shrugged her bag onto her shoulder. Everyone was still going to school, they tried to keep up pretences, pretending everything was normal when someone could drop dead any minute. She checked in to see her mom.

"Hey, sweetheart." Isobel enveloped her daughter in a tight hug. "Have a good day at school. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom." Elena didn't want to get teary again that morning, so she flashed a forced smile and headed out the door. She took her bike to school, she wasn't risking going in a car. Ever since people started dying, it would happen in cars as well. There had been many car crashes which killed people that weren't dying yet from the disease. Everyday, Elena feared for her father who travelled far to work. One day, she knew for sure, he wouldn't come home.

Travelling to school was a short journey, there were no cars on the road to make traffic. Hardly anyone came outdoors, not since the first death in Mystic Falls. Elena remembered that day very well. The first one to die there was Tyler Lockwood. He was sitting next to her in History and he just collapsed. Tyler fell onto Elena's lap, who started screaming. The whole day was a blur, one massive horrible blur. Tyler's girlfriend and Elena's best friend was devastated.

"Tyler!" She had cried. "You can't leave me! You promised you would never leave me!"

Nobody could force Caroline away from his lifeless body which was probably how she caught the bug. A week later, Caroline passed away.

Slowly but surely, Elena was losing all her friends. It was now just Elena and Bonnie left of her group and Elena thought she would go mad if Bonnie left her too. IT was something that was just not allowed to happen.

Elena arrived at school 5 minutes early. A year ago, it would have been busy by now, people talking in the corridors, couples making out outside, procrastinators quickly finishing their homework. The memory made Elena smile. Now, looking in the same corridor, there was no movement. A piece of paper fell off the billboard because of the sudden gust of wind that was caused by her opening the door. There was no life at all.

She slowly made her way toward her classroom. One classroom was all that was left. Well, obviously all the classes were still there but there was only enough pupils to fill one room and that was everyone in Freshman year, to Senior year. Elena was a Senior, and one of the only ones left. There were three of them and they basically helped run the class. Pushing open the door to the English classroom they used, Elena was startled to see someone already there. He looked up from the book he was reading.

"Elena."

She sighed. Of all the people in the school left, her rival had to be one of them. Damon Salvatore.

"Damon." She replied. As she moved her way closer, she saw tears down his face. Her mind was streaked with guilt because of her last thought. "What's wrong?" She hurried over and put her arm around him.

"My mom…" he choked out. "This morning…" New sets of tears made their way down his face. Elena held him in her arms and rocked them back and forth. This was the last of Damon's parents to go. She felt awful, both her parents were still alive.

"Oh Damon, I am so sorry." The tears made their way down Elena's face as well. "Look at me." She told him. His icy blue eyes met her large brown ones.

"I'm not going to start a pathetic speech of how sorry I am, we both know that won't work. Instead, I'm going to apologize for the fact that your parents went before mine. I can't possibly imagine right now how it must feel to lose two parents to the same disease. But my guess is that I will probably find out any day now." Damon nodded. He was glad that she didn't start all the pitying crap, he just wanted to be held. He had lost everyone he loved, well actually, he didn't know that for sure. He hadn't heard from his older brother, Stefan. But Damon's guess was that he was probably dead.

"Thank you, Elena."

They sat in silence until some kids started coming in the class. Elena stood at the front for ten minutes, waiting until it seemed like that everyone had arrived. She counted each student. There was 12. Yesterday, there had been 15. They were down by 3.

Elena groaned. She hated informing people of the new deaths.

"Right people. Roll call!" She announced.

"Damon."

"Here," he muttered. He didn't see the need to pretend everything was normal and stay in school. He informed the class of this everyday, and each day they told him the reasons all over again. He would never let them know, but he loved this bit of normality. He was dreading going home to his big empty house that night, he just didn't want to face it.

"Bonnie."

"Here."

"Matt." Matt Donovan was in the year below with his twin sister, Vicky.

"Do we need to do this?" Vicki yelled before breaking down in tears. "He's gone okay? Couldn't you tell that? It's not as if you can forget someone when there are only 15 people alive here!"

Elena stopped the roll call abruptly. She didn't want to focus on who was gone and who wasn't, that's why she done roll call.

Bonnie rushed to console Vicky, but Elena just stood there. She couldn't handle the pressure of being in charge anymore. Suddenly, she felt a large, strong hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay," Damon whispered. "she didn't mean it, she's just upset."

Elena nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt her."

The day was slow, it wasn't like any other day where they managed to laugh at least once. The immense pressure of the situation seemed to rain down on them, stopping anyone from having a good time. Soon, it was time to leave.

"Right everyone. It's time." Everyone stood up and hugged every single person in the room. Once this was over, Elena stood up again.

"I know it's hard but please come every day. I hope to see you again tomorrow." She added on the end. Then everyone got up and left.

Elena sighed and hugged Bonnie one last time. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure, I'm not giving up that easily," Bonnie tried to smile.

"Yeah, I knew you were strong." Bonnie left and Elena started to tidy up the classroom. She was about to turn out the light but noticed that Damon was still in the corner. "What are you still doing here?"

"I don't want to go home." He said it simply as if it was obvious. Elena hadn't thought about what Damon was going to do.

"You could… uh… come back to mine for a while. Only if you want to, though," Elena suggested. It wasn't as if she particularly wanted Damon in her house but she didn't want to leave him alone. His answer surprised her.

"Would that be okay?" Damon asked. Dumbfounded, Elena nodded. She walked her bike home next to Damon.

"Mom, I'm home!" she called out.

"Elena!" Isobel ran and hugged her daughter. "How was school?"

"School was fine, uh, can Damon stay for dinner?" She blurted out. Isobel was quite taken aback. Whenever Elena had talked of Damon, it had always been to moan about him. "Damon beat me in a test." "Damon said I was rubbish at maths." "Damon ripped up my picture." "Damon kicked my sand castle!" Even in kindergarten the two had been rivals. Isobel chuckled. She knew that her daughter secretly fancied this Damon, even though she wouldn't admit it.

"Sure, that's fine! I always make too much for dinner anyway." Damon smiled and entered the house. It had been a while since he had had an actual family dinner. Elena was very lucky.

"Uh, what do you want to do?" she asked.

"Watch TV?" he suggested.

"Okay, let me just run upstairs for a minute." Elena ran upstairs and shut the door in her room. She collapsed to the floor and leant against it. Her heart was banging in her chest, she could barely speak. She was about to die, she could feel it. And then, it all subsided. She stood back up confused. What had just happened? She made her way back downstairs and saw Damon sitting in the living room watching the TV. The feeling stirred again and she had to sit down quickly.

"Everything okay?" he said, turning to her. The way his eyes stared into hers made her feel even more uncomfortable. Panicking, Damon moved to feel her forehead. The physical contact made her feel dizzy. "Oh my god, you're all clammy."

As soon as he drew his hand away, she felt fine. "Sorry, I don't know what that was. Uh, I feel better now I think."

The phone rang and Elena heard Isobel pick it up. "Hello."

"God, Elena, don't scare me like that, you had me really worried."

"Why would you be worried?" Damon opened his mouth to answer when they heard the phone clatter in the kitchen. They rushed through to see Isobel sobbing, holding on to the sink. Elena felt sick. She knew where this conversation was going to go.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Isobel shook her head, she couldn't answer.

Damon picked up the phone. "Who is this?" he demanded. He listened for a few minutes on the other end and his face went white.

"Elena, you're dad has been in an accident." Elena shook her head. No, no, this can't be happening, she thought. Her whole world shattered at the next few words out of his mouth.

"He didn't make it…"

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><p><strong>Thank you to everyone who has read this! I hope you did enjoy it! Please leave a comment and tell me whether you think I should continue this or not! :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Another chapter! Sorry for the delay!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Elena had woke up that morning with a smile on her face. She had dreamed about Damon all night. She supposed it was a little bit creepy as Damon was in the room next to her but she didn't care. It wasn't as if he could read minds. Then she became sad as she thought of her father. This was something she didn't think she would be able to get used to.

Damon had woke up that morning with a smile on his face. He had dreamed about Elena all night. He was surprised at how romantic his subconscious mind could be, in his dream he had made them a boat and took them out of America and proposed to her when they were halfway to England. It was really strange, he hadn't thought about marrying before.

He got up and stretched before padding along to the bathroom. He opened the door with out thinking and walked straight in on Elena standing in her house coat, moisturising her face in the mirror.

"Damon! Get out!" Her voice rose a few octaves. Damon closed the door with a chuckle. He had new ammo towards her. He decided to knock on the bathroom door.

"Elena? Can I come in? I want a shower," he laughed. She opened the door, her face now rid of the cream.

"And what clean clothes would you put on? I don't recall you bringing clean underwear," she retorted. He stood there, puzzled. Elena laughed. "It's okay, I'll let you borrow something of my dad's. It's not like he needs them now anyway," she muttered quietly at the end, but Damon still heard her.

"Thanks." He slipped in the bathroom with her and went to pull down his boxers.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Elena's voice quivered.

"Going for a shower, what does it look like?"

"Don't you want me out he bathroom first?" Elena said, her jaw dropping.

"I'm not to fussed." Damon pulled them down and stepped into the shower. Elena quickly covered her eyes and turned round. She couldn't believe he had just done that.

Damon chuckled. He wasn't the modest type but he hadn't expected Elena to whirl round and not look at him. He didn't know she got that embarrassed. He started the shower and moaned when the hot water fell onto his body.

"Enjoying that shower?" Elena giggled. He had almost forgotten that she was there.

"Well I would enjoy it better if you were in here with me."

"Excuse me?" Elena felt like she was going to faint at the thought of being in a shower with Damon. Was he hitting on her?

Damon went bright red. He couldn't believe he had just said that. It was a natural instinct within him to flirt with Elena, not that it had ever really happened before. He had always managed to stop himself when a witty and inappropriate comment had threatened to spill from his mouth.

"It was a joke, calm down." He tried to say it calmly but it didn't work for him. His voice came out kind of shaky and it confused Elena. Did he want her in the shower or not? She thought he was toying with her emotions. Either that or she was overanalysing things. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"Right, okay. I'm going to get changed now. I'll come back in with a few of my Dad's clothes. Enjoy your shower." Damon heard the door close and he stood thinking about things. He wasn't too sure he was going to be happy wearing a dead guy's clothes but there wasn't much he could do about it. He hard the door open and close again and a rustling of material.

"There are some towels in the basket. Help yourself," Elena said quietly before leaving again. She crossed to her bedroom and started tidying up. She felt unsure of herself when Damon started flirting with her, she didn't really know what to do. She had never had a boyfriend or even have a boy flirt with her before so this was all new territory. Elena's mother had been shocked when she had asked for clothes for Damon, she was sure Isobel didn't want to give them any. But Elena had managed to convince her otherwise. Her door flew open and she thought it was her mother deciding against lending him the clothes, but when she turned round it was Damon standing in her doorway with a towel wrapped round his waist, showing off his toned body. Elena knew she was staring at his chest but she couldn't help it, it was so gorgeous. There was definitely a six pack there and it was so defined that Elena felt she could probably put her finger in between them. Damon went scarlet.

"I, uh, thought this was my room," he said before backing out and running off. Again, Damon had left Elena standing there, confused. He wasn't embarrassed stripping in front of her but when she saw him wearing a towel, that was enough to send the blood rushing to his face? She would never understand that boy. Also she wondered why he needed to go in his room, everything was laying out in the bathroom that he needed. Rolling her eyes she started getting organised for school.

Damon was rushing to find his cell phone. He had forgotten about it that morning and every few hours he checked it to see if Stefan had contacted him. In his rush, he had accidentally walked into Elena's room. The fact it was an accident and the way that she had stared at him had made him blush, it wasn't like him to make mistakes, she should know that. Looking at his phone, he yet again felt disappointed. Nothing from Stefan. But it was good that Damon had something to hold on to and too hope for. If he didn't, he probably wouldn't have a reason to live. He walked back to the bathroom slowly.

When Damon was ready he collected his stuff and thumped downstairs. Elena was sipping an orange juice at the island in the kitchen and had a slice of toast in front of her.

"Would you like anything for breakfast?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I'll have what you're having." Elena got up to make him it. "No, I'll get it. Save yourself the trouble." Elena smiled at him and sat back down.

"Good morning Damon," Isobel said hoarsely as she walked in the room.

"Good morning Mrs Gilbert," Damon felt bad but he didn't actually know Elena's mom's name.

"Call me Isobel."

"Alright. Good morning Isobel."

Elena rolled her eyes. Why was her mom getting to know Damon? This was a one off situation that they were in.

Damon brought his toast over and sat directly next to Elena. "Mmmm, I actually love toast. It has to be one of my favourite foods. I could eat it all day," Damon remarked.

"Same. My mom and dad never understood why I loved it but I do. I especially like the burnt kind," Elena confessed.

"Same!" Damon held his hand up for a high five. She raised her eyebrow but gave him a high five and giggled. Isobel shook her head watching the two of them. She wished she had seen them interact before and she would have told her daughter to make a move on him. They were both obviously attracted to each other, she could even feel the electricity in the air.

"Bye mom, I love you!" Elena said to Isobel on the way out the door. She kissed her mother's cheek and they hugged for a few minutes.

"Thank you for breakfast, Isobel," Damon said as he passed her. Isobel pulled him in for a hug as well.

"Now, Damon, you come here whenever you want, okay? I hope you feel welcome here," she told him sincerely.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

"No problem."

Elena and Damon had a pleasant walk to school, it was the most they had ever really talked together. Elena had forgotten all about the disease by the time they had arrived and was shocked when she noticed so few people had came. Had their numbers really fallen by that much?

That day, only eight people turned up, including Elena and Damon. Nobody was in a good mood anymore, they were full of remorse and all of them were grieving. Elena was almost inconsolable again as Bonnie hadn't arrived at all. Damon wasn't too sure he liked how emotional she was because in all the years he had known her, he had seen her cry more times in those two days than the rest of the years.

Elena sniffed and smiled half-heartedly at Damon. "I'm sorry, she's not even my family but we've been best friends since kindergarten, you know?"

"Yes, I completely understand. My best friend was the first to go, God it was horrible trying to get over Tyler's death. It doesn't seem like just two months ago…"

"It's only been two months?" Elena asked, horrified. "It seems like years ago since it first started. Where's my sense of time gone?" she said with a watery smile.

All throughout this mini conversation, Damon was rubbing Elena's back. She found it soothing, as if she couldn't remember a time when she wasn't soothed by this.

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><p>"It's time to leave, Elena," Damon whispered in her ear. She woke with a start. The continuous motion of him rubbing her back must have soothed her until she fell asleep. She couldn't believe it. Not once had she fell asleep in school before.<p>

"Are you wanting to come back to mine again?" Elena sounded hopeful. Damon shook his head.

"I have to face my house. I'm going to dig a hole in the back garden or something and bury my mom. I can't just leave her in her bed, that would be so wrong. I need to do this," Damon explained. Elena nodded. She understood that he would want a proper goodbye, but she couldn't face the fact that he wouldn't be in the same house as her that night. She didn't want to worry the whole night that he wouldn't turn up to school the next day, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"Alright then, so I guess I will see you tomorrow?" It was more of a question than a statement. She was hoping he would change his mind and go back with her.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Damon said it more forcefully. They stared at each other for a few minutes and eventually, Elena hugged him.

"Be safe, Damon."

"You too Elena." Then he started to walk away. Elena was upset, she really thought that he was going to kiss her. She watched him walk away, unable to move herself.

His emotions were conflicted. He wanted to run back and kiss Elena, but if he did he would never be able to drag himself away from her and he needed to go home.

Ah screw it, he thought. He turned back round and strode quickly towards her before putting both hands on either side of her face and leaning down towards her mouth.

His lips met hers with what felt like an explosion for both of them. He kissed her passionately, as if he had been storing up this kiss for many years. Too say Elena was surprised was an understatement but it didn't take her long to get over her shock and kiss back just as passionately. Her hands rose up and tangled in his black hair and he groaned into her lips. His tongue grazed along her bottom lip and made her knees wobbly. His hands had moved and they were now running up and down her back. Elena granted his tongue entry and they moved around each other, mini fireworks exploding in their mouths. All to soon, Damon drew back for air.

"Goodbye Elena."

"Goodbye Damon."

No words needed to be said between them to understand what that kiss meant. It meant I love you, but I'm too afraid to say it. It meant goodbye in case tonight is my last. It meant I've always liked you, and I'm glad you finally know.

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><p><strong>A wee bit of a mushy ending there, but trust me, there will be no time for mushy moments in the future. Well, actually, I'm lying. There may be a few mushy moments in the foreseeable future. Tell me what you thought about that chapter please!<strong>

**Thank you to everyone who has put this story on their alert list and also to the people who have reviewed, I love you guys!**

**Next chapter hopefully will be up tomorrow or Thursday, have a nice week people!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter! Sorry for the delay!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Elena had woke up that morning with a smile on her face. She had dreamed about Damon all night. She supposed it was a little bit creepy as Damon was in the room next to her but she didn't care. It wasn't as if he could read minds. Then she became sad as she thought of her father. This was something she didn't think she would be able to get used to.

Damon had woke up that morning with a smile on his face. He had dreamed about Elena all night. He was surprised at how romantic his subconscious mind could be, in his dream he had made them a boat and took them out of America and proposed to her when they were halfway to England. It was really strange, he hadn't thought about marrying before.

He got up and stretched before padding along to the bathroom. He opened the door with out thinking and walked straight in on Elena standing in her house coat, moisturising her face in the mirror.

"Damon! Get out!" Her voice rose a few octaves. Damon closed the door with a chuckle. He had knew ammo towards her. He decided to knock on the bathroom door.

"Elena? Can I come in? I want a shower," he laughed. She opened the door, her face now rid of the cream.

"And what clean clothes would you put on? I don't recall you bringing clean underwear," she retorted. He stood there, puzzled. Elena laughed. "It's okay, I'll let you borrow something of my dad's. It's not like he needs them now anyway," she muttered quietly at the end, but Damon still heard her.

"Thanks." He slipped in the bathroom with her and went to pull down his boxers.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Elena's voice quivered.

"Going for a shower, what does it look like?"

"Don't you want me out he bathroom first?" Elena said, her jaw dropping.

"I'm not to fussed." Damon pulled them down and stepped into the shower. Elena quickly covered her eyes and turned round. She couldn't believe he had just done that.

Damon chuckled. He wasn't the modest type but he hadn't expected Elena to whirl round and not look at him. He didn't know she got that embarrassed. He started the shower and moaned when the hot water fell onto his body.

"Enjoying that shower?" Elena giggled. He had almost forgotten that she was there.

"Well I would enjoy it better if you were in here with me."

"Excuse me?" Elena felt like she was going to faint at the thought of being in a shower with Damon. Was he hitting on her?

Damon went bright red. He couldn't believe he had just said that. It was a natural instinct within him to flirt with Elena, not that it had ever really happened before. He had always managed to stop himself when a witty and inappropriate comment had threatened to spill from his mouth.

"It was a joke, calm down." He tried to say it calmly but it didn't work for him. His voice came out kind of shaky and it confused Elena. Did he want her in the shower or not? She thought he was toying with her emotions. Either that or she was overanalysing things. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"Right, okay. I'm going to get changed now. I'll come back in with a few of my Dad's clothes. Enjoy your shower." Damon heard the door close and he stood thinking about things. He wasn't too sure he was going to be happy wearing a dead guy's clothes but there wasn't much he could do about it. He hard the door open and close again and a rustling of material.

"There are some towels in the basket. Help yourself," Elena said quietly before leaving again. She crossed to her bedroom and started tidying up. She felt unsure of herself when Damon started flirting with her, she didn't really know what to do. She had never had a boyfriend or even have a boy flirt with her before so this was all new territory. Elena's mother had been shocked when she had asked for clothes for Damon, Elena was sure she didn't want to give them any. But Elena had managed to convince her otherwise. Her door flew open and she thought it was her mother deciding against lending him the clothes, but when she turned round it was Damon standing in her doorway with a towel wrapped round his waist, showing off his toned body. Elena knew she was staring at his chest but she couldn't help it, it was so gorgeous. There was definitely a six pack there and it was so defined that Elena felt she could probably put her finger in between them. Damon went scarlet.

"I, uh, thought this was my room," he said before backing out and running off. Again, Damon had left Elena standing there, confused. He wasn't embarrassed stripping in front of her but when she saw him wearing a towel, that was enough to send the blood rushing to his face? She would never understand that boy. Also she wondered why he needed to go in his room, everything was laying out in the bathroom that he needed. Rolling her eyes she started getting organised for school.

Damon was rushing to find his cell phone. He had forgotten about it that morning and every few hours he checked it to see if Stefan had contacted him. In his rush, he had accidentally walked into Elena's room. The fact it was an accident and the way that she had stared at him had made him blush, it wasn't like him to make mistakes, she should know that. Looking at his phone, he yet again felt disappointed. Nothing from Stefan. But it was good that Damon had something to hold on to and too hope for. If he didn't, he probably wouldn't have a reason to live. He walked back to the bathroom slowly.

When Damon was ready he collected his stuff and thumped downstairs. Elena was sipping an orange juice at the island in the kitchen and had a slice of toast in front of her.

"Would you like anything for breakfast?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I'll have what you're having." Elena got up to make him it. "No, I'll get it. Save yourself the trouble." Elena smiled at him and sat back down.

"Good morning Damon," Isobel said hoarsely as she walked in the room.

"Good morning Mrs Gilbert," Damon felt bad but he didn't actually know Elena's mom's name.

"Call me Isobel."

"Alright. Good morning Isobel."

Elena rolled her eyes. Why was her mom getting to know Damon? This was a one off situation that they were in.

Damon brought his toast over and sat directly next to Elena. "Mmmm, I actually love toast. It has to be one of my favourite foods. I could eat it all day," Damon remarked.

"Same. My mom and dad never understood why I loved it but I do. I especially like the burnt kind," Elena confessed.

"Same!" Damon held his hand up for a high five. She raised her eyebrow but gave him a high five and giggled. Isobel shook her head watching the two of them. She wished she had seen them interact before and she would have told her daughter to make a move on him. They were both obviously attracted to each other, she could even feel the electricity in the air.

"Bye mom, I love you!" Elena said to Isobel on the way out the door. She kissed her mother's cheek and they hugged for a few minutes.

"Thank you for breakfast, Isobel," Damon said as he passed her. Isobel pulled him in for a hug as well.

"Now, Damon, you come here whenever you want, okay? I hope you feel welcome here," she told him sincerely.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

"No problem."

Elena and Damon had a pleasant walk to school, it was the most they had ever really talked together. Elena had forgotten all about the disease by the time they had arrived and was shocked when she noticed so few people had came. Had their numbers really fallen by that much?

That day, only eight people turned up, including Elena and Damon. Nobody was in a good mood anymore, they were full of remorse and all of them were grieving. Elena was almost inconsolable again as Bonnie hadn't arrived at all. Damon wasn't too sure he liked how emotional she was because in all the years he had known her, he had seen her cry more times in those two days than the rest of the years.

Elena sniffed and smiled half-heartedly at Damon. "I'm sorry, she's not even my family but we've been best friends since kindergarten, you know?"

"Yes, I completely understand. My best friend was the first to go, God it was horrible trying to get over Matt's death. It doesn't seem like just two months ago…"

"It's only been two months?" Elena asked, horrified. "It seems like years ago since it first started. Where's my sense of time gone?" she said with a watery smile.

All throughout this mini conversation, Damon was rubbing Elena's back. She found it soothing, as if she couldn't remember a time when she wasn't soothed by this.

"It's time to leave, Elena," Damon whispered in her ear. She woke with a start. The continuous motion of him rubbing her back must have soothed her until she fell asleep. She couldn't believe it. Not once had she fell asleep in school before.

"Are you wanting to com back to mine again?" Elena sounded hopeful. Damon shook his head.

"I have to face my house. I'm going to dig a hole in the back garden or something and bury my mom. I can't just leave her in her bed, that would be so wrong. I need to do this," Damon explained. Elena nodded. She understood that he would want a proper goodbye, but she couldn't face the fact that he wouldn't be in the same house as her that night. She didn't want to worry the whole night that he wouldn't turn up to school the next day, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"Alright then, so I guess I will see you tomorrow?" It was more of a question than a statement. She was hoping he would change his mind and go back with her.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Damon said it more forcefully. They stared at each other for a few minutes and eventually, Elena hugged him.

"Be safe, Damon."

"You too Elena." Then he started to walk away. Elena was upset, she really thought that he was going to kiss her. She watched him walk away, unable to move herself.

His emotions were conflicted. He wanted to run back and kiss Elena, but if he did he would never be able to drag himself away from her and he needed to go home.

Ah screw it, he thought. He turned back round and strode quickly towards her before putting both hands on either side of her face and leaning down towards her mouth.

His lips met hers with what felt like an explosion for both of them. He kissed her passionately, as if he had been storing up this kiss for many years. Too say Elena was surprised was an understatement but it didn't take her long to get over her shock and kiss back just as passionately. Her hands rose up and tangled in his black hair and he groaned into her lips. His tongue grazed along her bottom lip and made her knees wobbly. His hands had moved and they were now running up and down her back. Elena granted his tongue entry and they moved around each other, mini fireworks exploding in their mouths. All to soon, Damon drew back for air.

"Goodbye Elena."

"Goodbye Damon."

No words needed to be said between them to understand what that kiss meant. It meant I love you, but I'm too afraid to say it. It meant goodbye in case tonight is my last. It meant I've always liked you, and I'm glad you finally know.

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><p><strong>A wee bit of a mushy ending there, but trust me, there will be no time for mushy moments in the future. Well, actually, I'm lying. There may be a few mushy moments in the foreseeable future. Tell me what you thought about that chapter please!<strong>

**Thank you to everyone who has put this story on their alert list and also to the people who have reviewed, I love you guys!**

**Next chapter hopefully will be up tomorrow or Thursday, have a nice week people!**


	4. Chapter 4

******Hey guys! Sorry about it being later than I said, and it is also a wee bit shorter than usual. I hope that's okay with you lot! I've been busy studying for tests!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Damon walked home with a spring in his step. He wanted to find someone and scream "I kissed Elena Gilbert!" before walking calmly away. He could find no one and so settled for running all the way home with a grin on his face. He decided to text Stefan, even if he didn't know if he would ever receive it.

**Bro, I just kissed Elena Gilbert. You were right all along, I did like her.**

Damon smiled before sending it. It would be a long night, he had to remove his mom and also be away from Elena at the same time. He decided to start digging a grave out the back door next to his dad's plot. Damon and his mom had done that when his dad had died in his sleep, and it had taken a couple of hours before they had finished. It would take him forever by himself.

Elena almost ran home. She wanted to sing at the top of her lungs, dance around in circles. But she would resist and just run home and tell her mom. She did want to tell Bonnie, this was a moment when she couldn't believe her best friend was gone. It was her first kiss and she didn't really want to go into details with her mom, that would just be awkward. As she swept into her house with a huge smile on her face her mother raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you so happy?" Isobel wondered out loud. She didn't think that anything would make her daughter smile that wide considering the circumstances.

"Oh, nothing." Nothing could remove the smile from Elena's face. Isobel grimaced when she turned around. She recognized the look, it was the same smile that had been on her face for a week when she had first met Elena's father. It was love. And there was only one person Isobel could think of that would cause a look like that for Elena; it was Damon.

Isobel didn't know what to do. She didn't want to give her daughter an awkward conversation involving what Elena should do next… but it seemed like the only thing to do at that moment.

"Elena," she started. "Just because the world is possibly coming to an end doesn't mean you have to do anything you're uncomfortable doing…"

"What on earth are you on about?" Elena asked, confused.

"Uh, you don't need to have Sex with Damon." Isobel mentally scolded herself. That was not how she wanted that to slip out.

"Excuse me?" Elena done a double take. "What did you just say?"

Isobel blushed. This was not going how she thought it would go. She thought Elena would nod and say 'I know, mom. No need to tell me.' But, no. Elena seemed shocked by the whole topic. Maybe Isobel had misinterpreted her daughter's smile.

"I, uh, you see, eh, you looked quite, um, happy?" Isobel asked it as a question instead of a statement.

Elena's eyes widened in horror as she realised why her mom had thought that. Was it awful that her own mom thought she was sleeping with a guy because the world was ending? She thought yes.

"No, no! No…" was the only word that Elena seemed capable of saying. "Oh, no, no, no. You have it all wrong! I only kissed him, that was all!"

"You kissed Damon?"

"How do you know it was Damon?" Elena demanded.

"I watched the way you two acted together yesterday, I may be old but I'm not blind," Isobel joked. She was not actually that old, just in the early stages of her fortieth year, which she herself considered to be young, unlike Elena.

"What about us yesterday?" Elena frowned.

"The way you looked at each other, I don't know. It was as if you really liked each other and now it is apparent," Isobel shrugged. "But please promise me that you will be sensible."

"Mom!" Elena moaned. "I'm not going to run off and sleep with him! I'm not that stupid."

"Good," Isobel smiled while Elena huffed. "How was school?"

"It wasn't bad," Elena sighed. "but there was a noticeable difference in how many people were there. Bonnie didn't turn up." She started to tear up again.

"Oh, honey. We knew it was inevitable. I'm actually really surprised we have survived this long," Isobel told her while pulling her in for a hug.

"I know, but it's just so hard without her."

"Yes, that's how I felt when my best friend died, you know that…"

"Uh huh."

That night they didn't talk much. Elena sat in Isobel's arms in silence while her mom played with her hair. It was the most peaceful moment they had ever shared and Elena cherished it with all her heart. It was as if both of them knew what was going to happen, and they wanted to appreciate every moment they spent together. They both went to bed happy that they had shared those moments, each drifting off into a deep undisturbed sleep.

Damon was restless the whole night. He tossed and he turned and he stayed awake. Nothing could settle him. He didn't like being alone in the huge house and even though he should have been extremely tired with all his physical exercise, he just couldn't sleep. His bones ached, his head pounded and he was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Sighing, he forced himself up out of bed and he ventured through the house to look outside. He stood leaning against the doorframe, letting the cool air caress him. He watched the full moon above him, it was a really beautiful night. He wished Elena was beside him, looking at the moon with him.

"Goodnight," he said to no one in particular before he closed and locked the door, and headed back to bed.

When he got up the next morning, he had a gut feeling that something was off. He showered, had breakfast and done everything else in his morning routine before school yet he still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad had happened. By the time he was ready, he had to run to school to make it on time. He was late by the time he barged through the classroom door, everyone would have been there by now. The classroom was empty. A shock ran through Damon as he scanned the empty classroom. There was no sign that anyone had been there and gone home when nobody else arrived. He slammed the door shut and ran out the school as fast as he could. There was only one word going through his mind. Elena.

Elena had spent most of her morning crying again. This time though, the tears showed no sign of stopping. Her whole body shook with emotion, her sobs tore out of her body with a frightening wail. She was cradling her mother's lifeless body in her arms.

"No, mom. No!" she sobbed into Isobel's hair. But there was nothing she could do. Isobel had passed away in the early hours of that morning, her bed already cold.

"Please wake up… please…" Elena's thoughts were not making sense in her head. At first she thought she could wake her up by shaking her. It didn't work. She tried pouring cold water on her head. That also didn't work. She was down to pleading and sobbing, she had long forgotten her first thought which was 'This must be a joke'. It wasn't, and she knew it.

She had slept in that morning. Usually her mom's fussing about woke her up or the sound of her alarm. She had forgotten to set the alarm and her mom never fussed, but the brain in the morning never really register's that kind of detail. She actually had a shower before she noticed something was wrong. Elena had collapsed to the floor when she noticed that her mom was still 'sleeping'. That was what Elena wanted to call this, 'sleeping'.

It took her a long time before she managed to get the strength to get ready for school.

"Damon done it when his mom died, be strong Elena," she told herself out loud.

When she got out the door she had the urge to run to school, to run away from her mom's body which she had arranged in a lying position on her bed. She had taken clothes and memories in her bag with her, she did not want to return to that house again. At least that was what she hoped.

She started to run, to get as far away from the nightmare as humanely possible. As she ran, she felt herself letting go and with that tears fell down her cheek again. She couldn't see where she was going so she sat down on the sidewalk and sobbed.

"Elena! Elena!" she heard from a distant street. Wiping her cheeks dry, she turned her head slightly to the sound of the voice. All of a sudden, Damon ran past her side, not noticing her on the ground.

"Elena!" He was headed for her house and she didn't want to go back there.

"Damon?" she asked out loud. He didn't here her. "DAMON!"

He stopped suddenly and whirled around to locate the voice of Elena. He thought he was going crazy and hearing things, but no. There was Elena running towards him, her bag swinging on her arm. She had her arms wide open and when she finally caught up to him, she knocked him over as she tried to hug him.

"Ow, that hurt!" Damon complained as he rubbed his head, but he ignored the pain, he was just so glad she was alive.

"Oh, Damon! Mom is dead!" she wailed into his chest. He had guessed as much what with Elena not being there, he had simply refused to believe that she was dead.

"It's alright, everything will be alright now…" he told her in a soft comforting voice, but they both knew that that was not the case.

Elena straightened up and smiled at him sheepishly. "I'm sorry, where are my manners. Good morning Damon, how are you today?"

"Not so good if I'm being truthfully honest. I hardly slept a wink last night."

"I fell straight asleep, no tossing or turning for me."

"Well aren't you lucky."

"I guess I am."

They looked at each other for a few minutes, glad that each other was still breathing.

"I guess we should stick together from now on," Elena said, sighing. "You, me, and whoever else at school that wants to join us."

"That's the thing Elena, there was nobody else at school when I went there, that's why I ran to find you." Elena's eyes widened.

"You mean it's just…?"

"Yes," Damon said blankly. "It's just you and me, pal."

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><p><strong>Wondering what will happen to Damon and Elena? Leave me a review and tell me your predictions!<strong>

**I have some exciting news, for Christmas this year I'm getting an Ian Somerhalder calendar for 2012! You may not find it exciting but I sure do!**

**Thank you for all your wonderful comments and alerts, they really light up my day when I get an email about them! Bye for now folks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so sorry that it has taken this long to update. I lost my creative spark for a while and then I had a ton of studying to do but I am done now! I really hope you enjoy this chapter and it lives up to what you want :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

They both went to Elena's house to dig a hole in the back garden. She wanted to bury her mom, to not let her rot on the bed for the rest of eternity. She had never discussed it with her, but she was sure her mom would want that too.

Digging, digging, nearly all day. Elena said her final goodbye's to her mom in the early evening, the sky just turning a faint pink as the sun went down. When they finished filing up the whole, Elena placed a single rose from one of her mother's plants on the grave. They were both exhausted and famished but Elena couldn't rest yet.

"Damon..." she hesitated. "I don't really want to stay here. I know we have just spent a long time digging but I can't, I'm sorry."

Damon nodded, understanding exactly how she felt. "It's alright, we can walk to my house."

"Do you want to have dinner here first?" she offered. She honestly couldn't walk to Damon's house without any food in her, that would just be ridiculous.

Damon found food in the kitchen and whipped up some dinner as Elena slumped against a counter, spinning a fork round and round. Suddenly, a bowl of macaroni and cheese was forced under her nose. She inhaled deeply.

"Mmm, smells delicious. I didn't know you could cook."

"Thanks. There's not a lot you know about me," he grinned and she slid into a chair across from him at the table. They ate in silence, there wasn't a whole load to say to each other. But the silence wasn't uncomfortable like it was with some people, it was comforting. Elena took the dishes and washed up before putting them away. She knew she wouldn't be coming back to the house but she couldn't stand the idea of just leaving dirty dishes there.

Damon held out his hand and she placed hers in his. "Time to go to my house."

Elena had never been inside the Salvatore house before, so this was a very new experience for her. She let out a gasp as she crossed the threshold, it was amazing. Damon smirked as she ran her hands over the dark mahogany furniture and laughed as she collapsed into the comfy chairs.

"This is such an amazing chair. It is officially claimed as mine."

Damon nodded. "Well this one is mine." He sank into a chair opposite her. A magnificent fireplace was on the wall between them. Elena could just picture themselves sitting there with the fireplace producing some comforting heat in the background. She knew that she was going to love the Boarding House.

They chatted for a few hours, unsure of what to do when it came to sleeping, but eventually they grew tired and Elena wanted to sleep.

"Um, there are plenty of spare rooms upstairs, I'll show you."

Damon led Elena to parts of the house she hadn't explored yet and let her choose a room. She chose the one next door to his, obviously not wanting to be apart for very long. She went into the bathroom to have a shower, thinking that she would say goodnight to Damon once she was ready to sleep.

Damon collapsed on his bed. It had been such a tiring day, he really couldn't believe all that had happened. Everyone was dead, and he and Elena were the only ones left. The only ones. Did this mean they had to repopulate America?

He shook away the thought. Only Damon would think about the responsibility of repopulating when the whole country was gone. He shook his head again and decided to head in for a nice hot shower, because it wouldn't be long before the electricity to cut out if there was no-one to produce it.

He took much longer than usual, just letting the water skim down his body. He grabbed a towel and headed out into his room. He walked straight to the dresser, dropped his towel and picked out a pair of boxers to put on. He heard a gasp and the sound of someone hitting their face with their hand and there was only one person who it could be. He had just stripped in front of Elena. He quickly pulled the boxers on. Pink in the face, he turned round to see Elena covering her eyes.

"I didn't. See. Anything," she muttered half to herself, half to Damon.

"You could have let your presence be known," he argued.

"I thought you would come out the bathroom and see me sitting on your bed, how was I supposed to know you have selective sight?"

He sighed. "What is it then?"

"Well I did come to say goodnight." She didn't quite know what to do, had their kiss the day before meant anything to him or was he just caught up in the moment? She hoped that wasn't the case.

Damon suddenly noticed that she was sitting on his bed, wearing very skimpy pyjamas. The whole picture made his heart start racing. What was going to happen. He sat down beside her. "I'm sorry, I just got a shock."

"You got a shock?" she giggled. "Try being me."

"Oh, god," he said, putting his head in his hands.

"Ah, I'm only teasing you," she told him. She put her arm round his shoulder, hugging him. Damon was all to aware of the skin-on-skin contact her arm was making and he shivered with delight. She misinterpreted it though.

"Oh, are you cold?" Elena asked, suddenly concerned. "Let's get you in to bed then."

He let her open the covers and he climbed into the bed. She was just about to cover him with the quilt when he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in with him.

"What are you doing?" she giggled.

"Getting warm," he smirked. She giggled again and he could feel his eyes close. He was way too comfortable with her lying in his arms.

"Damon?" she whispered.

He made a sound that showed he acknowledged her talking.

"Can I sleep in here tonight? I don't want to be alone."

He managed to force his eyes open and he looked at the beautiful girl in his arms. She was looking at him, her eyes wide, like an innocent little creature.

He nodded slowly. "Sure."

"Thanks," she said before resting her head on his chest, letting sleep come naturally. Damon like the way this was going.

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><p>This is the way things went on for a week. They had to start foraging supermarkets for food and even looking in their neighbour's houses. Elena tried not to think of it as stealing, because nobody else would need the food. It was strange, both Elena and Damon were in good hadn't so much as caught a cold.<p>

In terms of their relationship, it hadn't moved any further forward. They slept in the same bed at night and always hugged each other but they hadn't kissed again since the first time, sand Elena was starting to worry about it. Did he only kiss her in the heat of the moment? Did he really not like her in that way? She knew that couldn't be it, he let her sleep beside him every night, she wondered why he was holding back.

Damon was also wondering the same thing, why was he holding back? It wasn't as if he wasn't picking up on Elena's little hints, she was always leaving them and she was about as subtle as a gun. He decided that hethe was doing this because he didn't want to ruin everything. They could possibly be the last two people in America, and if they fight or argue, well, they were going to get very lonely. So all in all he was picking his timing carefully, but he decided that he would make his move soon.

He was making dinner tonight, a vegetable stir fry that he loved to cook. He had dimmed the lights and a candle lit at the table. It was his idea of a first date with Elena, and usually after the first date he would kiss the girl. Eh, not that he had been on many dates before, just one with Caroline Forbes before she decided he was boring and se her sights on Tyler. But he could feel it in his bones, this date with Elena would be very different, and very exciting. Elena didn't know what he was planning, she was busy reading a book in front of the fire. Damon had chuckled at the pile of books that were collecting beside her, her first port-of-call had been straight to the massive bookshelves in the study when she had first moved in there. Damon put his stir fry in two plates and put them on the dining room table. He quickly checked his reflection in the mirror, fixing his hair a little, before heading out say get Elena.

"Dinner's out."

"Would you mind brining it out to me?" she asked him without taking her eyes from the book. "I'm at a good bit."

Damon rolled his eyes before strolling over to her. He snatched the book out of her hands before saying, "No." He looked at the book before snapping it shut.

"Hey! You've just lost my place!" Elena moaned.

"I looked at the page number before I closed it, don't worry." Then he smirked. "You'll get your book back after dinner." The book was then put on the highest shelf Damon could find. When he turned back round, Elena was glaring at him with her arms folded.

"Are you going to give me back my book now?" she said in her most threatening voice.

He pretended to contemplate what she was saying. "Well... Nah," he said laughing.

She stuck her tongue out at him before walking into the dining room in a huff. But when she saw the candles on the table and the smell hitting her nostrils, she couldn't help but gasp. She turned around to face him, her eyes sparkling and he grinned like a maniac.

"Mi'lady," he joked as he pulled a chair out for her. She giggled and sat down, loving it already.

When they were finished, Damon was glad when she didn't ask for her book back. Instead, they both sat on the couch kind of awkward.

"Do you want to watch a movie? You know, for one last time before we lose all power?" he suggested.

"Sounds good," Elena said, smiling. He got up to look at the large collection of DVDs his family had collected over the years. Elena grabbed the remote and turned the television on. Over the last few days she had flicked through the channels, missing all of her favourite shows.

"I wish the Vampire Diaries was still on," she told Damon. "I really miss that show."

"What was it about?" he asked absently.

"Diaries about vampires," she said giggling. Damon rolled his eyes at her.

"I got that much."

"It's about a girl that falls in love with a vampire. But then she starts falling for her boyfriends brother who is also a vampire, there is a lot of sexual tension between them. I wanted her to get together with the other brother, they were brilliant together! But now I will never know," she said sadly before flicking through them again.

"Right, well, we have Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception, Aliens vs Predators, Transformers..." he began before Elena interrupted him.

"Damon, shut up! Look!" she almost screeched as she pointed at the screen. Damon turned round before nearly collapsing to the floor. He managed to pull himself over to the couch next to Elena as he stared at the face of a man in his late twenties on the screen. It was a message that was being played over and over and so they waited until he started again before concentrating on his words.

"Hello survivors of America. My name is Alaric Saltzman. I am the representative of a group of survivors from all over America, is there any more of us out there? The phone lines are down here, but we are based in Washington DC. If anyone sees this, please travel here. We have plenty of food, water and shelter to allow us to survive and figure out how we have survived. We look forward to seeing you, if there is anyone that is. Hello survivors of America..." he started again.

Elena and Damon shared a shocked look. Neither of them could believe it. They weren't the last ones in America after all. But they didn't know what to do about it.

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><p><strong>How did you find the chapter? Do you like where this is going? Who else do you think I have saved? Let me know with a little review!<strong>

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So, it has been a while but my exams are now over and I can focus on my writing? Someone said I was going for character death in a big way and I suppose I am, but quite a few characters from the series will be making an appearance. I have added someone to the end of this chapter I hadn't initially thought of so tell me if you like who I have saved.)**

**Also! I suggest maybe recapping on the last chapter, only if you don't remember what is going on anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

"We need to prepare!" Damon rushed around the house, grabbing things he would need. He was sad that they were going to leave behind his magnificent house, but at the same time he was incredibly happy. There was more people out there, people like them who had survived. The thought was almost exhilarating.

"Calm down, Damon, we have plenty of time. They didn't say a date we needed to be there by," Elena laughed as she watched him throw around some of his clothes into a suitcase.

"People Elena! That's why we are rushing! Different people!"

Elena felt hurt by his comment. Was he suggesting that her company was not enough for him? If that was the case then she was glad they were going and she wouldn't have to spend every waking moment with him.

Damon turned when she didn't answer his excited cries with laughter. He stared as she fiddled with a loose thread on his bed sheets, not looking at him at all.

"What's the problem? Don't you want to go?" he asked her, confused. It was all he could think since the small clip of the Mr Saltzman guy appeared on the screen. He sat down and took her hand in his and raised her chin to look at him with the other. "Tell me what's going through that pretty head of yours," he said softly.

"I thought, because you wanted to leave so badly, that you were tired of being with me all the time," she admitted. When he didn't say anything she nudged his ribs with her fingers. "Talk to me!"

"You know Elena, I know you were the smartest girl in our year but sometimes you are just so stupid." The statement was harsh and Elena could barely understand what he was saying.

"What do you mean?" she said, her lip quivering.

"I mean, I let you sleeping my arms every night, I took you on a 'date' tonight, I kissed you a few weeks ago and before that when everything was normal I tried to get you to like me! But you never noticed. And so I pushed my feelings for you deep down so I wouldn't get hurt and I forgot what it was like to want you to like me. Until now," he inhaled deeply after his long speech that he had managed in just a few breaths.

Elena felt a dark crimson colour rise to her cheeks and she did feel stupid. What made it worse though is that she still didn't see his point.

"What has that got to do with the current situation of going to Washington?" she asked hesitantly.

Damon let out an exasperated cry before bringing his lips down to meet hers. He had forgotten how good it felt to run his hands through her hair, how it felt when her tongue swept across his lips, teasing him, and how it felt to have her respond to his every crash of emotion he felt when they touched.

He raised his head slightly and rested his forehead against Elena's while he caught the breath that she had stolen from him. She made him come alive with passion, and at that moment he really did feel that it was just the two of them left in the whole world.

He leant back further to see her eyes were still closed. "Elena, if there was one person that I wished I could spend an American apocalypse with, it would have been you. And I want to meet other people so I can officially tell someone that isn't dead that I want you to be my girlfriend."

A tear rolled down Elena's cheek as her eyes stayed shut. She brought her hands up to her face and covered her eyes and wailed, "You're right! I am so stupid!"

Damon was alarmed for he hadn't meant to upset her, he had wanted her to look at him and tell him that she did want to be his girlfriend. This reaction had him panic a little more.

"I was kidding, I don't think you're stupid at all!" Damon said as he brought her hands down from her face. She looked at him with tears filling her big brown eyes and he felt a pang of guilt that he caused them to be so unhappy. "I was just annoyed that you hadn't seen how much I really care about you."

It was Elena's turn to initiate the kiss this time. She didn't really know what she was doing, all she knew was that her face was mashed with Damon's, with an eagerness that she had never felt before in her life.

She pulled back to see Damon's cheeks were slightly pink. "That was my reply."

"To what?" he asked breathlessly.

"To you asking whether I wanted to be your girlfriend," she giggled. She kissed his lips lightly once more before standing up and looking around. "Right, we need to get you packed, handsome." She giggled slightly again, liking her new confidence when dealing with Damon.

He could feel a smirk forming on his lips as he got up and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Packing can wait for now," he murmured against her lips and they sank onto the bed, caught in another passionate kiss.

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><p>Elena was looking through all the rooms, looking for things that might have held sentimental value for Damon. She climbed a flight of stairs and ended up in front of a room that hadn't been opened for a while. She tried the door handle, but it was locked. Curiosity got the better of her and she rushed down to Damon's father's office, where she had seen a set of keys.<p>

She climbed the stairs slower than she had descended them, examining the small objects that could possibly let her get into the room. The first key was more modern than the house and so she didn't bother trying it. The second key was older and slightly rusted, as if it has been used a lot. She tried to turn the key in the lock but it got jammed and Elena panicked for a minute, she whacked the door and the key became loose again, but not without causing damage to her hand.

"Ow," she muttered as Damon's voice drifted up from downstairs.

"Are you alright?" he called.

"I'm fine! Just hurt my hand a little," she shouted back. As she looked at the third key on the ring, it was black and ornate, a key that looked fit to unlock a mansion door. For the first time, Elena studied what the door looked like. In the middle of the polished dark wood were the two letters 'S.S.'. The key slid smoothly into the lock and Elena was glad when she heard the satisfying click of the lock. She slowly opened the door, suddenly afraid of what she would find inside.

Everything in the room had a thin layer of dust over it, and as Elena started to walk around, the dust began to swirl. She walked over to a desk where there were a few photo frames. The first one she picked up was a picture of a blonde boy of around four or five, holding a baby with black wavy locks of hair. The boy had a genuine smile on his face as he was trusted to hold such a small creature.

The next one she picked up was of the same blonde haired boy and the baby who had grown up to be a toddler. Elena was surprised to recognise the smile on the toddlers face to be the same one as Damon's and she realised this must have been the room of Damon's brother.

"Find anything interesting?" Damon asked from directly behind her.

Elena jumped and nearly dropped the picture. "Uh, I, uh," Elena didn't understand why she was so flustered, it wasn't as if she was doing anything wrong.

"It's alright," Damon chuckled and picked up the next picture. He was older I this one, around fourteen Elena guessed. His brother was wearing a graduation cap and had a look of freedom on his face. "This was taken a week before he left. As soon as his graduation was over, he denied my father's wishes to go into the family business and moved to New York to become a journalist. My father was so upset that he locked up this room and it hasn't been visited ever since. He hid the key from me as I used to try and get in here, I missed my brother. And now I guess you found it."

"Yes, I found the keys in the study." Elena showed him the key that had fitted the lock and Damon's expression darkened.

"He told me that was the old key to the basement," he muttered. He didn't set down the picture, he kept it with him as he left the room. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah. Wait, what did you say his name was?" she asked but Damon had already left. She didn't want to leave the room, she felt like it should be visited more. But without Damon there, the room just had a rather chilly feel to it and with that, Elena left.

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><p>Elena and Damon hit the road in his father's jeep. They travelled lightly, Elena taking a small carrier bag and Damon taking too. In one of his bags he had his clothes and memorable things that he couldn't even think about leaving behind. In the second, smaller bag he had his father's shotgun. Even though it no one who had died due to the disease had got up and started walking around, he had watched too many zombie films not to go prepared. He also had more shells for the gun, a shovel and a baseball bat as blunt objects to the head was general advice on how to deal with zombies. He just hadn't told Elena about the weapons part yet.<p>

Not that Elena hadn't come prepare either. Her father had kept a series of handguns in the house when people started to die, he wanted to take precautions against possible living-dead attacks. And when she packed her bag to leave the house, her handgun came out from it's hiding place and into a small concealed pouch in her bag. You know, just in case. Her father has lived by the code 'better safe than sorry'.

The two of them spent days travelling on the road, having to stop and see if they could get any gas from the gas stations. They ended up stopping in a small town with a name they never remembered to try and get fuel for their car.

"I hate how deserted it is," Elena mumbled to herself as she looked forlornly out of the passenger window.

"I know what you mean," Damon muttered back as he pulled in at an abandoned gas station. The situation screamed horror film at him and he was really reluctant to get out the car. He pushed away his nerves with a deep breath. "I'll just be a but his sentence was interrupted by a clatter somewhere near them.

Elena's face drained of all colour. Her heart started beating fast and she reached for her bag. Damon had the same idea and grabbed the shotgun out and turns d towards Elena. He had planned on telling her not to worry and that he had it covered but his sentence was dispelled before it left his mouth as Elena brought a handgun out her bag. He would have laughed at watching such a delicate person handle an instrument of death but the situation stopped that. Instead, he smiled grimly at her before they both reached for their door handles and silently opening the doors.

"I've got your back," Elena whispered to him. Adrenaline was rushing through her veins, giving her the ready for action feeling. They made their way towards the Gas Station store and entered the small building. There was no one around.

"Hello?" Damon called out before Elena smacked him in the arm.

"Have you learned nothing from the movies? You never alert a possible killer of your presence!" she whispered harshly.

Damon merely shrugged. "It was just an instinct."

"Well your instincts are crap," Elena muttered, not meaning for him to hear. He did however, and smiled and shook his head.

The noise they had heard earlier came again and Damon was on high alert, looking down the sight of his gun. He used his foot to boot open what he assumed to be a kitchen door and a high pitch scream was heard.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" a male man shouted at them, a man who was clearly not a member of the living dead. "I just wanted a warm bagel, that was all! I'm sorry I didn't pay but please don't shoot me!" The man was on his knees, begging Elena and Damon. Damon just rolled his eyes.

"We would only have shot if you were a zombie, man, chill out!" he said while hauling the man up on his feet. The guy clearly looked insane, his clothes were torn up, he had excessive facial hair and just looked horrible. "God you stink!" Damon proclaimed and let the guy go.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting human company. I thought I was the last person alive," he snapped.

It was Elena's turn to roll her eyes. "Dude, with the way you smell you won't be receiving any company, human or animal."

He gained a rather defensive pose. "Hey! My dog used to like this smell!" he said, as if it defended himself.

"Whatever, but if you expect to come with us you need a shower drastically." Damon paused and sniffed his underarm. "Eugh, I could use a shower round about now too. It has been days."

"Why would I come with you? Where are you going?" the hairy man demanded.

"There is a group of survivors in Washington D.C. And we are heading to meet up with them," Elena explained.

"What are we waiting for! Let's go then!" the man said, forgetting about his bagel and charging towards the door.

"Take it easy man, first you need a shower."

Elena and Damon stocked up on food from the store and then they found a house that had no dead people in it. They all had their turn in the shower, Elena Damon and henchmen the man who wouldn't tell them his name. Elena got a clean set of clothes from her supply and twisted her wet hair into a bun on her head. Damon walked in as she put on her top and he walked sideways into the doorframe.

"Oh, I'm sorry, so sorry," he said, averting his eyes.

Elena, however, did not feel embarrassed at all. She walked over to Damon and put her arms around his waist. "You know technically you are allowed to see that," she giggled to him. "Because you are my boyfriend."

Her reason brought a smile to his face. "Oh I forgot. Then maybe you should take your top off so I can watch you put it back on again," he smirked.

Elena couldn't help but blush at his sexy smirk as it made her body tingle in ways she had never known. They were about to kiss when someone coughed at the door.

The hairy man was unrecognisable. He had shaved the beard to show a chiseled jaw, cut and combed his hair so it wasn't a wild mess, and managed to find a suit that he wore instead of the ragged clothes they first met him in.

"I always wanted a suit like this, but I could never afford it," he said as he fixed his tie. "I've packed a few clothes I found around the house, the man that used to live here was exactly my size."

Elena and Damon gawked at the transformation. "Who _are_ you?" Elena gasped at him.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry for my rudeness earlier, my mental stability is usually reflected by my hair," the handsome stranger shot Elena a dazzling smile. My name is Elijah, Elijah Mikaelson."

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><p><strong>So do you like it? It was a bit longer to satisfy all of you)<strong>

**Okay, so please leave a review as they do inspire me to carry on and I love hearing your thoughts!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I was so excited about this chapter that I had to**** write it straight away! I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

"Anything you want to do while we are here?" Damon asked Elena as they walked to the car.

"I don't mean to rush you, but I feel as if we should be heading straight for the survival group," Elijah responded before Elena could get her answer out.

"Don't worry, they will still be there in the morning. In the mean time, I would love to go to the library," Elena said, stars in her eyes as she thought about books. As long as she could remember, she had been an avid bookworm, always wanting her fix of the glorious words spilled from an author's mind.

Damon looked at their new acquaintance and shrugged. "What the lady wants, the lady shall get."

Elena grinned at him before hopping into the car, hauling her bag with her. She had managed to hand wash her dirty clothes while Elijah told the two of them his story.

Turns out, Elijah really was the only one left there, and by god, had he checked. Every carcass had been rolled over and checked for life but there was no one else. His town had been one of the first to get the disease, and it had spread like wildfire. He had thought he was dreaming that he was the last alive and so had sort of turned mad. However, when he saw Elena and Damon he couldn't believe his luck. The two of them now thought they might possibly be stuck with the unusual stranger.

Elijah seemed to be very good at locating places and instructed Damon the way to the library. "Just take a left turn here, the library is that tall building over here. When I was low on money once, I became a tour guide, you know, one of those people who sat onto of buses, pointing out the sights..." he droned on but Elena had stopped listening. As soon as she had seen the building she was in awe. It was three stories high and completely filled with wonderful books! And the best part was, she never had to return them, they were all hers and nobody could stop her taking any.

"Oh my god," Elena had to let out. She was in love with the building and she wished she could have seen it in it's prime. It was rather old fashioned, gargoyles carved at the top and stone pillars standing tall and proud, holding up the weight of the majestic roof. As soon as the car stopped, Elena jumped out and ran to a pillar. She honestly couldn't stop herself from tracing the pattern on it with her finger, before leaving it and running inside.

It was just as beautiful on the inside, and it had that library smell that Elena loved so much. She picked out her favourite Shakespeare plays from the drama section, grabbed a few history books about Ancient Rome and Greece, plucked out a couple of mythology books - she really loved learning about the different gods people believed in -, and then made her way to her favourite section; fiction novels.

She browsed the different titles with great interest and but by the time she had picked all the books she wanted, she could barely carry them and continuously dropped a few. However, there was one more section she just had to look at.

Being a top student in all of her classes, especially science, Elena had instantly developed an interest in the disease that wiped out the American population. From basic Biology knowlegdge, she understood that it must have been part of the gene codes that gave them resistance to the deadly disease, and something was compelling her to find out what. She put down her pile of books as neatly as she could before running her fingers over the spines of the genetic books in the Medical section of the library. She picked out a few promising ones and then frowned as she read the summary of another few.

"You are so sexy when you are concentrating."

Elena nearly dropped her books on the floor. She turns round to scold Damon but his lips had pressed up against hers and he pinned her to the library stacks. She wanted to drop the books and run her hands through his hair but they were too precious to her. Instead, she told him to pause for a moment, she put the books down carefully before telling him, " You may proceed."

Their lips connected instantly and they kissed passionately for quite a while in the back corner of the giant library. Damon pulled on Elena's lip as he leant back from her and smirked.

"Well that's one thing off my bucket list. Have a steamy make-out session with Elena in the back corner of a library." He used his finger to trace a tick sign in the air. "Check."

Elena felt like she was melting. He always knew how to charm her and make her insides turn to mush, it seemed to be a natural gift for him.

"What else is on that bucket list of yours?" Elena asked huskily, thinking of all the things he wanted to do with her before he died.

He wiggled his eyebrows at his blushing girlfriend and dramatically said, "Well..." He was about to tell her everything he wanted to do to her right then when he was interrupted by Elijah, shouting on them from somewhere inside the building. Damon scowled. "Well, the first thing is definitely get rid of that lunatic so we can really have some alone time."

Elena giggled before picking up the medical books she had put down. Damon raised an eyebrow. "Is that all you came for? Here, let me carry them for you."

"No way!" she said, shifting the books in her arms so he couldn't reach them. "That's the pile I want you to carry."

Damon turned and choked on the air he was breathing. Until that moment Elena hadn't really noticed how many books she had picked out until Damon panicked that he had to carry them all.

"I'll take some if you want," she offered but he dismissed her with his hand.

"No, don't you worry. What's the point of having muscles like mine if I can't use them to impress a pretty girl once and a while."

He lifted them all up and Elena laughed as she led him to the exit. Once the books had been squeezed into every nook and cranny of the car, they headed on the road again.

* * *

><p>"Shakespeare really was a fascinating fellow," Elijah said after snapping a book shut. "Too bad I can't understand a word he wrote."<p>

Elena glanced back at the book. Elijah had read 'Hamlet', which Elena considered to be Shakespeare's most thought-provoking play. However, the only way she understood it was because they covered it during English last year.

"The language isn't that bad when you get used to it, that's why I've tried to read all of them."

"It's not only the language, he didn't answer a lot of the things that were suggested in the play," Elijah frowned.

"That's called being ambiguous. It's a technique that is used which allows the reader to decide what happened in that situation. That's why everyone who reads the books has a different opinion about events than other people," Damon explained before Elena could get the chance.

She was seriously impressed that he had remembered that. "I thought you never payed attention in English."

"I'm more than just a pretty face, Elena," Damon joked before he sounded more serious. "Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers of all time, it would have been disrespectful to not pay attention and find out the inner workings to his mind."

Elena couldn't help but feel surprised. She didn't think that Damon had actually fully concentrated, she had just assumed he had listened enough to pass extremely well and then he could forget about it. "Wow, that's really deep, Damon."

"It still doesn't exactly help me understand what is happening in the play," Elijah sighed.

"Well, I guess you will never know then," Elena answered distantly as she turned back to her own medical book.

She continued reading for a while until the car started to slow down. Elijah snored as she looked up at Damon and noticed his eyes were starting to droop a little. She reached over and nudged his arm. "Hey, don't fall asleep."

He smiled sleepily at her. "I won't," but he countethat's us statement with a yawn.

"Right, pull over. I'll drive for a while."

"Are you sure?" he asked as the car stopped completely. It didn't look as if he was going to argue much against it.

"Yeah, I haven't driven for a while so I want to get behind the wheel again." They changed sides and after Elena had began driving for a few minutes Damon's breathing became heavier and even so she knew he was asleep. Her fingers drummed against the wheel as she looked at the sky above. It wasn't completely dark yet but the two men in the car felt as if they needed to sleep earlier than usual. She hoped with all her heart that they were close to Washington D.C. as all she could think about was lying back on a nice comfy bed and sleeping until she no longer felt tired.

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><p>The sun had started to rise, colouring the sky vibrant colours of orange and yellow. Elena had driven all through the night, feeling a need to try and get to their destination. It was at that glorious sunrise that Elena first laid her eyes upon the city that would hopefully bring the three of them peace. She had never been to Washington, and so she didn't know if her eyes were deceiving her or maybe it was a different city altogether. All she knew was that she wanted to reach this paradise land before anyone woke up so she could surprise them with refuge.<p>

She passed the first building of the outskirts in just under half an hour later and whizzed past others, desperate to find signs of life. It was only then that she realised that the man on the tv hadn't said where they were in the city, only that it was the capital city.

A sick feeling in her stomach started as she tried to think about where they could possibly be staying.

"Damon?" she whispered quietly as she slowed to a stop. "Damon, babe, you need to wake up and help me think."

He slowly opened his eyes and smiled at the site of Elena waking him. "What's up, gorgeous?" he asked, his charm automatically switching on.

"We are in Washington -" she started to say but Damon was now fully alert and excited.

"No way! Wow, how long was I asleep for?" His eyes roamed the streets hungrily in search for anything normal. When he realised what Elena had discovered moments before his face fell with disappointment. "We don't know where to go from here."

"We were so hell bent on getting to the city we forgot that we had no clue where to look!" Elena confirmed for them.

"They are obviously staying in The White House, that's where I would go. Now will you please shut up, I'm trying to sleep!" Elijah told them crankily but confidently. He turned his head and soft snores came from the back seat yet again.

"Wow, maybe he's right?" Damon said more to himself than anyone else.

"It wouldn't harm to check, we have no other leads," Elena responded, so she put the car in gear and headed toward the house that used to belong to the President.

She had only seen the building in pictures and so was obviously stunned when she rolled up to the gates. Elena inspected the technology that was outside the window next to her.

"It's an intercom."

"Well, roll down the window and try it."

"Hello? This is Elena Gilbert, would you mind letting us in?" she asked as she held down the button. She had no clue why she had said her name, it wasn't as if they would know who she was. There was no reply. "I take it they are not here then."

"Wait, the powers out." Damon pointed to a security camera that should have had a red light showing it had power, but there was none. "Grab your gun, we will have to climb the gate and walk."

"Alright. Elijah, we are going to check something alright? You stay here." He grunted in response as she grabbed her hand gun. "Ready."

"Alright, let's go."

As before when she carried the gun she got a rush of adrenaline and felt as if she could have leapt over the gates. Of course, her mind thought she was more agile than her body did and she had to climb the gates instead. They managed to get over, but not without difficulty, and started the long walk towards the building.

"What if we find the President dead in there?" Elena wondered out loud.

"Then we give him a proper burial before we head out to find the survivors," Damon said confidently.

"I hope nothing has happened to them while we were travelling, that would just be awful."

"Yeah, that means we are just stuck with Elijah."

The two of them laughed. They chatted and joked like that up until they reached the house where they both grew somber. Damon walked up the steps and knocked three times on the door. Elena held her handgun pointing towards it.

After a few minutes, they were both disappointed to have no one come to open it. They decided to open the door and go inside.

"Cover me again?" Damon asked.

"Always," Elena grinned at him. He nodded, the smirk re-appearing on his lips. He turned the handle to find the door was unlocked and stepped inside.

Someone screamed.

"Oh my god! More survivors!" Another scream erupted from the lips of a woman with light brown hair who bounded towards them. More faces popped up from different places as the first woman bound towards them. She wrapped the Mystic Falls survivors into a massive hug, Elena hugging her back just as enthusiastically but Damon merely patted her back awkwardly.

She pulled back and beamed at the two of them. "Hi! My name is Jenna Saltzman, I take it you seen my husband, Alaric, on the television broadcast? It was his idea, you know, he is just so smart. Speaking of him, he will want to meet you soon. RIC!" she screamed in the direction of the man who was coming towards them. "Oh here he is. Darling, this is..." she gestured towards them to speak.

"Oh, I'm sorry, by name is Damon Salvatore, and this is my girlfriend, Elena Gilbert." His voice was filled with pride as he looked at Elena and took her hand. She smiled back at him, butterflies in her stomach. "We've travelled here from Mystic Falls."

Jenna looked at Elena curiously. "You are not by any chance related to Grayson Gilbert, are you?"

"Yeah, he's my uncle," Elena replied, confused.

"He was my brother in law!" Jenna said excitedly, she obviously had wanted someone here that she knew through relations.

"What a small world, right?" Alaric said, the first live words they heard him say.

Everyone in the room came forward to greet them, excited to have some knew people to talk too.

"This isn't all of us, there is another two upstairs that don't really come down much. They like to stick together," Jenna whispered quietly to Damon and Elena.

"Oh!" Damon said suddenly. "We left Elijah in the car! And I need to get our stuff. I'll be back in ten." That last bit he whispered quietly to Elena as he kissed her lips.

"I'll give you a hand," Alaric told him and he slapped Damon on the back. Elena giggled as she could see a friendship forming between them.

"Alaric is such a people person," Jenna smiled. "I have to go and get some dinner sorted out, but I will catch up with you later!"

She walked away and Elena was left standing, admiring the interior of The White House by herself.

"Seriously, what was that racket?" a male voice came from her left. She turned to see a man with blonde hair and a familiar smile looking at her with interest. She peered at him, trying to figure out where she had seen him before. He smirked. "Take a picture, it'll last longer, sweetie."

Elena blushed because he had noticed her staring. She laughed hesitantly.

"Sorry, I tend to flirt like that while in the company of pretty ladies," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Elena's blush deepened and she spluttered a little. "So what is the pretty lady's name?"

"Oh, I'm Elena, Elena Gilbert." He showed no recognition to her name.

"And did the lovely Elena Gilbert travel alone?"

"Oh no, I came here with my boyfriend, Damon Salvatore and a man we met called Elijah Mikaelson," she explained. The blonde man stiffened a little for a moment before quickly covering it with a smile.

"The good ones are always taken, eh?" He winked at her before turning away.

"Wait, you didn't tell me your name!" she called after him.

"My name?"

"Yes, your name," she said laughing.

"Well, my name is Stefan," he told her before wandering back the way he came.

For some reason, the name made her feel uncomfortable and she couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him, but if she did, he wasn't conforming any of her thoughts.

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><p><strong>Do you understand now why I was excited? I winder why Stefan didn't stay to welcome his brother?<strong>

**If you enjoyed it or have similar questions, leave a review. I would love to know what you are all thinking about it!**

**Thank you for reviewing last time; ayna93, BurningDownTheBridges, cianna, cdaye8184, TopSecret101 and IThinkI'mDeadInside! They really make me smile :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**I am extremely sorry for leaving it this long. It's been hard for me to write since I started RPing in one of the forums. Anyway, thank Cianna for reviewing that she desperately wanted another chapter, it helped get my finger out to write this! I promise not to leave it as long this time :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

At that moment, Damon entered with their bags and all suspicious thoughts about Stefan vanished from her mind. Elena grinned and grabbed her bag. "How strong you are!" she said teasingly to him.

Damon smirked and dropped the rest of the bags on the floor as Elijah barrelled past him. "My god!" he shouted excitedly. "This place is marvellous!"

Alaric glanced at Damon and Damon just shrugged. Alaric cleared his throat. "Alright, I'll show you to your rooms or feel free to choose your own. After that, come back down and I'll give you the tour!"

Elena nodded and picked up her bag and her suitcase. She wondered if she should choose a separate room from Damon or just share one from the beginning. She doubted that it would make a difference. They climbed a set of stairs and came out on the first floor corridor. Elena noticed that a lot of the doors had been painted on, presumably the names of the people that were residing there. Damon looked up and down. "This one actually seems pretty full, do you want to go up another flight?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah, sure. I want a good view from our window," she teased before realising that she had voiced that she wanted to share a room with him.

Damon looked pointedly at her. "That was another question I was going to ask. Living here is going to be pretty permanent so I thought maybe you wanted your own room."

She shrugged. "We were sleeping in the same bed at your house so what difference does it make? I don't know of I could sleep alone here anyway," she said rather quietly.

Damon's face broke out in a grin. "Whew, I didn't want to be sleazy and suggest it but now that you have, it's fine!" he winked at her.

Elena felt her face colour as she turned to walk up the next flight of stairs. It seemed that he could say anything to her and she would blush, it must have been a talent. They reached the next floor and it was pretty empty. The doors were the same as the others apart from one which had posters slapped on them instead of delicate paint. Elena wondered who lived there. Damon gestured to the door next to the one with posters but Elena shook her head. She had a feeling that whoever it was wouldn't be thee quietest of neighbours, what with all the posters of bands and the hum of music that came from under the door. She also wondered how they got power to play the music, and so they went to the opposite end of the corridor and opened the door.

The room was exquisite. Elena had pictured a sort of hotel room with all the basics but the realisation that the president had lived here hit her with a bang. There was more than just the basics in here, there was a large flat screen tv (too bad it needed electricity), a large mahogany desk, a bathroom the size of Elena's old room at home, and a massive four poster bed. Elena ran her fingers over the silk bedspread in awe and turned to face Damon.

He was just as gobsmacked. He could imagine sleeping there with Elena, holding her close as she slept happily. He grinned.

"Who knew that the end of America would result in us living in luxury?" He laughed.

Elena giggled. "I claim this side of the bed!" She shouted, flying onto the side closest to the window.

Damon smiled and laughed. "That's fine with me."

Elena wiggled her fingers to beckon him closer. He crawled next to her and she kissed him softly. "I like it here already."

He chuckled. "I know what you mean."

After spending quite a while kissing, they decided to go down for the tour, hoping Alaric would still be waiting. When they arrived downstairs, Alaric gave them a sly look. "Enjoying the room?"

Elena blushed. "Um, yes. It's beautiful."

Alaric chuckled and shook his head. "Kids. Anyway, let's get on with the tour."

Damon frowned. "What about Elijah?"

Alaric shrugged. "He went ahead, saying he could show himself around."

He lead them into a large room where a lot of people were sitting. "This is the lounge area. Everyone gathers here to talk and such."

A guy held up his hand and waved at Alaric.

"Later, Klaus, I'm showing the new kids around!" he hollered back.

The man Alaric called Klaus gave him a thumbs up and continued talking to the blonde woman sitting next to him and more shockingly, Elijah. "We have books, board games and things like that to keep us entertained," he smiled almost apologetically. "However, we are working on making a generator which would provide us with electricity. I'm sure you guys would appreciate that. It might be powered by us, like someone running in a giant hamster wheel," he chuckled.

Elena had to laugh at that. It seemed so absurd but useful at the same time. It would allow her to have a work out while providing people with the modern entertainment systems. She made a mental note in signing up for that later.

They continued out the lounge area and Alaric led them to a swimming pool. "The president liked to live in style, there are so many great things here."

Elena watched as two kids splashed around the pool, laughing away. She wondered if their parents were here, or they were just another couple of orphans in this lonely country. The little girl looked up and smiled brightly at Elena. She smiled back, which seemed more appropriate than leaping in and giving her a hug.

After a few more rooms that weren't quite as good, Alaric turned and looked at them excitedly. "This is my favourite part of the tour, come and look here." He swiped a card in a machine on the wall and a hidden door opened. Damon raised his eyebrows. "I thought that kind of thing only happened in the movies."

"Wait until you see what's down here though," Ric said excitedly. They followed him down a long corridor and appeared at another door with a hand scanner. "We had to hack into this to get it to recognise us. We'll have it programmed to allow you two to enter." He placed his hand on the scanner and the door unlocked. Ric grinned as he opened the door.

Before them was a massive underground lab. There were tv's on the walls, allowing the president to talk to official people without leaving the comforts of his home, computers below to track things from all over the country and a lab area off to the left hand side. Elena gasped. It was so elaborate, she couldn't honestly believe her eyes.

"We use all the electricity we have at the moment to power this. The labs are very important in trying to find the reason for our survival! And the tv's, well, they are just incredibly cool," Alaric grinned.

Elena felt herself moving down the metal stairs and towards the lab, where one woman was looking down a microscope.

"Newcomers!" the woman said, surprised. "Tell me, do any of you have science experience?"

Elena shrugged. "We done biology at school but nothing major."

The woman hushed her and gestured towards the microscope. "Tell me what you see!"

Elena looked down and discovered she was looking at chromosomes. "I see human chromosomes. They contain DNA."

"Exactly!" said the woman. "I'm trying to work out what the link is between us surviving and the disease!"

"Rose, calm down!" Alaric sighed. "We haven't got the faintest idea."

Rose pouted. "You never know, the kids can be fairly intuitive." She looked at Damon expectantly.

Damon looked away quickly. "I didn't even think, I thought it was a miracle that I was even alive," he mumbled quietly.

Rose sighed. "Very well, you don't have the brain of a scientist." She glanced over at Elena who was working her way down the microscopes laid out. "What about you, young lady. Do you have a theory?"

Elena straightened up, blushing. "Well, I did have an idea, I was reading a genetics book on the journey here..."

Rose smiled and grabbed a notebook and pencil. "Tell me quickly child! I must have new information!"

Elena blushed an even deeper red, hoping that her idea wasn't too ridiculous. "Well I had a few theories. When I survived, I immediately thought my DNA had a mutation. But now seeing how many people have survived, I'm now thinking its more along the lines of the alleles."

Rose scribbled furiously on the notepad as Alaric and Damon looked on.

Elena cleared her throat to continue. She picked up two pencils, one green and one red. "I think that maybe the human DNA contains these alleles. One that allows us to conquer the disease," she said, pointing to the green one, "and one which can not defeat it." She twirled the red one in her fingers. "Seeing that not a lot of us survived this, it would suggest that the allele which allows us to survive is recessive, whereas the other one is dominant. This means that for us to survive, we would need both of the recessive alleles to survive. Any sign of this 'red allele' and we are dead," she finished, for emphasis.

Rose looked up at her to smile. "You know, you are exceedingly bright for a young girl. That is a very good and interesting theory you have deduced and I would like to look into it. Too bad there are millions of genes but we have the aid of a computer to help," she grinned. "What's your name?"

"I'm Elena Gilbert," Elena flushed. She couldn't believe that she had actually been taken seriously, she had expected them to laugh it off. However, Rose had smiled and congratulated her! It was almost too much for Elena to comprehend.

"Good job, Gilbert," Damon whispered in her ear. Now it was too much. Damon was giving her a 'good job' instead of giving her a snide remark like they would have if they were still at school. Then again, it was completely different from those times but she didn't expect anything different.

"Thanks," was all she could manage to whisper back.

Rose patted Damon's arm. "I'm sure we can find something useful for you to do, Mr..."

"Salvatore. Damon, Salvatore."

Rose paused. "That's funny, isn't that...?" she began to say but Alaric cut her off.

"Sorry Rose, we best be going. It's dinner soon. We'll see you up there."

"If I can drag myself away from this idea," she joked. "Come down anytime Elena!"

"Thanks!" she said in reply. Elena could already tell that she would be spending a lot of time down there.

"So you found your second home?" Damon chuckled.

"Yeah, what about you? Found anywhere you want to spend a lot of time in?"

"You mean apart from the bedroom?" he teased, making her blush. "I don't know, I'd quite like to see the kitchen. I'd like to help in there I think."

She leaned up and kissed him softly. "And then all the food we eat will be utterly delicious. They'd be lucky to have you help."

Damon laughed and shook his head. "Well, if you say so."

They said goodbye to Alaric and thanked him for the tour as they passed the lounge. Elena assumed he was going in to speak to Klaus and so they excused themselves, saying they were going to unpack and freshen up.

They bounced up to the room giddily. "It's amazing here!" Elena laughed.

"I know. I claim the shower first!" Damon said, bolting for the bathroom.

Elena grinned and brought her bag to the bed. She started taking her clothes out and put them into drawers and the wardrobe when there was a knock at the door.

"Howdy neighbour," the boy Stefan said as he stepped through the threshold. Elena told herself off for leaving the door open. "Just popping in to say welcome to the neighbourhood."

Elena had to suppress her smile. "Thank you, how nice of you to consider us."

Stefan shrugged. "Who said anything about welcoming your boyfriend. I'm saying hi to you. And if you ever have a fight, come and sleep in the room next to mine. I could keep you company," he smirked.

She blushed slightly. "I don't think we are going to fight."

His face fell slightly but not at what she had said. "Trust me, I wouldn't be so sure. He can be temperamental."

Elena frowned. "How do you know that? Damon is one of the nicest guys I have ever met!"

Stefan shrugged. "Seen him walking around, he looks like he could explode," he said before leaving the room altogether.

She strode over to close the door, confusion written all over her face. Damon had looked happy the whole way round the house, or was that only when she looked at him. Was he secretly despising being there with her? Or was Stefan just trying to cause trouble? She sincerely hoped it was the latter.

Elena finished unpacking while Damon came out the bathroom, a towel wrapped round his waist the way it had been at her house. He grinned at her and she decided it must have been Stefan tricking her. _He's playing mind games with you, remember what your mother said about those kind of boys_, Elena's inner voice warned her. _Stay clear._

"I hate to interrupt because you look as if you are in deep thought," Damon grinned at her.

"Not at all, I'm just thinking about being here." _And possibly you being half naked_, the inner voice called out.

Now that she had thought it, she was very aware of the droplets of water that rolled down his perfect skin and the way his hair stuck up in every direction, as if he had ran his fingers through it.

"I have to shower now," she squeaked as she walked quickly into the bathroom. She leaned against the door and sighed. She would have to get used to that sight, but her newly found feelings for Damon and the teenage hormones made it very difficult to feel calm when he looked like that.

She got showered and changed before they headed down to the dining area hand in hand. Elena was hoping that Damon would meet Stefan and possibly get him to discretely back off. Maybe she was being too harsh, all he had done was flirt a little and then invite himself into their room...

As fate would have it, that didn't occur as Stefan was no where in sight at dinner.

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><p><strong>So, how did you enjoy it? Next time, Stefan and Damon are going to see each other and you can probably tell what Damon's reaction is going to be.<strong>

**If you are still reading this story, thank you. I know it must be a pain in the butt to wait for me to write. I hope you enjoyed it!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey! I'm back with a new chapter, I hope you like it!**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 9<span>**

The rest of the night was uneventful. Stefan was still no where in sight and Elena was beginning to wonder whether or not she imagined all her previous encounters with him. Surely she hadn't become that crazy? No, there was no way she dreamed up a boy nearly as handsome as Damon and with such a familiar smile...

That was another thing. Stefan was so familiar to her, she just couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him. Something was screaming the answer at the far side of her head, but it disappeared before it reached her conscious thoughts. Elena decided that the best thing to do would be to sleep on it, and then to see if the new day would bring the answers. Damon and Elena got ready for bed and climbed into the soft sheets together. His arm wrapped around her instantly and she lay her head against his chest. They were extremely comfortable together and sleep would have come easily if it weren't for the loud, excessive giggling.

Elena frowned and sat up. She thought it sounded like it came from the room two doors down. Stefan's room. That definitely wasn't the sound of him laughing, that was a girl's giggle. Damon groaned.

"Maybe we picked the wrong floor," he moaned.

Elena shushed him. She could hear a low mumbling which sounded like Stefan's seductive voice, and the girl let out a moan. Elena's thoughts travelled back to when they first arrived at the White House.

"...there are another two upstairs that don't really come down much. They like to stick together..."

Elena had forgot that Jenna had specifically said two people. That meant that someone lived in the room with Stefan. This information made Elena's stomach churn. He had been hitting on her when he was living with a girl, and he was obviously in some kind of relationship with her which was obvious from the quicker and louder moans coming from their room.

"She must have some voice on her," Damon whispered, "if she manages to keep us awake through two brick walls."

Elena giggled and slapped his chest slightly. "He must be showing her a good time."

Damon laughs. "Do you want to compete?" he asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

The atmosphere in the room changed suddenly, from light and playful to deadly serious. Damon's eyes searched her face to see if he had gone too far. Elena's cheeks coloured and her lips parted slightly. She knew this would come, when they would move forward in their relationship. But she still didn't know if she was ready. She was about to answer him when there was a loud scream and Damon's head snapped up.

"I should go and talk to them."

The atmosphere changed back, but Damon looked slightly worried.

"It's none of our business, Damon. Leave them be."

"It is our business when we can't sleep at night because of them."

"I think we should wait until they quiet down and then we can sleep. We can talk to them in the morning if we need to. In the meantime, we can unpack our other belongings, like my books!" she grinned.

Damon laughed. "Yeah, I have quite a few things from my house that I want to scatter the room with."

Elena nodded and went over to her backpack. Damon took it from her and put it behind his back. "But first... Kiss me."

She smiled at him and leaned up to press a soft kiss against his lips. Even the lightest of touches between them felt like fire to her and soon she was kissing him harder and deeper, wanting to get closer to him. She heard him drop her backpack to the floor and then felt his hands on her back, pressing her to him as if she could get closer. Her hand found their way up to his raven black hair that she loved so much. They tangled themselves in it and Damon found himself letting out an involuntary moan. Elena giggled slightly, but it was cut short as Damon glided his tongue along her lips, causing her to let out the same sound that he had.

"I love hearing you make that noise," he whispered against her lips. She could only nod in reply, her vocal chords were not trusted to form the right noises at the moment.

They sat their with their foreheads pressed together for a while, just gazing into each others eyes. The were trapped in their own world, not hearing he sounds from Stefan's room anymore even though they were as noisy as ever. Elena hated to ruin the moment, but she really had to use the bathroom.

"Um, Damon?" She asked. "Can I excuse myself for a moment, I need to pee," she said with a blush. He stroked her cheek, smiling.

"Of course you can, you don't need my permission," he chuckled. "I'll just put out our things."

Elena nodded and half walked, half ran into the bathroom. She shut the door quickly and then used the toilet. She stood up, washed her hands and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked so happy. Her face was glowing slightly and she still had the faint blush along her cheeks. This is what Damon had done to her, she really believed that he was the only one for her and not just because of the current situation. If things had been different, and if things were still the way they used to be, Elena believed that sooner or later she would have been with Damon, it had only been a matter of smiled once more at her reflection before heading out the bathroom and she stopped dead.

Stefan Salvatore was staring right at her.

Not in person, but through a picture frame sitting on Damon's bedside cabinet. It all made perfect sense now. That voice in her subconscious that knew all along made her want to hit herself. His smile was the exact same, although his eyes were void of the laughter that was caught in the picture. The fact that he accidentally nearly told her that he knew Damon was enough for her to have worked it out but no. She remained oblivious throughout the whole ordeal.

And now she had no clue on what to do next.

Damon was sitting at the edge of the bed with his phone in his hand. He was texting Stefan again, updating him on his current situation and where he should go if he was alive. He muttered a curse under his breath as the message failed to send. He pressed retry before he looked up at Elena. She had visibly paled, and was looking towards the photo that he had picked up in Stefan's room at his house. Damon looked up at her, confused.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

Elena's mouth opened and closed a few times, making her look like a goldfish. Damon would have snickered if he wasn't so worried.

"Your brother..." She started to say. "His name is Stefan, right?"

Damon nodded, his eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

She let out a long slow breath, trying to work up the courage to tell him.

Damon shook his head and looked at his phone. The message still hadn't sent and the little clock said that it was just after two in the morning. The people two doors down were still making an awful lot of noise and for Damon, enough was enough.

"It doesn't matter, you can tell me later. Right now I need to deal with the noisy neighbours," Damon sighed and stood up, crossing to the door. He clicked 'resend' on his phone again and walked out into the hallway. Elena bolted after him.

"Damon! You can't!" she insisted.

Damon shrugged. "Of course I can." He reached the door with the posters.

"Please don't!" Elena begged as he knocked on the door.

He chuckled. "Too late!" His phone beeped to tell him the message had sent. He smiled triumphantly.

His smile faltered slightly as he looked at Elena's terrified eyes and the way she didn't stand near the doorframe to be seen by the people inside.

"Who's in there?" He asked, realising that she might know.

His eyes lifted off Elena and to the door as it opened smoothly. The man that stood there was in his boxers and a shirt was flung on his top, obviously hastily as it wasn't buttoned. He stood there, a smile playing on his lips as he took in Damon and he looked round the door to see Elena cowering beside it.

"I wondered how long it would take you to come and complain, brother. Lord knows that you were always a light sleeper."

Elena watched Damon fearfully as his expressions changed. The first was confusion, then it was joy. Damon hugged Stefan almost straight away when he recovered from the shock. "You're alive!" He nearly shouted.

He just couldn't believe it. Stefan was alive. This was so much more than he could have asked for...

His happy mood disappeared in an instant when a phone went off. A girl with long dark hair and sultry eyes in her underwear walked to the door.

"Stefan, baby. Your phone just went off," she said huskily, to him before her eyes roamed to Damon. She looked him up and down appreciatively before smirking seductively. "Hello handsome, did we keep you awake?" she asked, batting her long eyelashes at him. Elena could feel herself turn green with jealousy.

"That's enough, Kat," Stefan told her. "Go back to bed." She wiggled her fingers at Damon and she glanced briefly at Elena as she turned around. Elena swore she saw 'Kat' glare at her before she disappeared.

Stefan looked grimly at the phone before looking back to Damon.

"Why did you not answer and of my texts, Stefan? Why did you let me believe you were dead?" Damon's voice was just over a whisper and it sounded like he was going to cry. Elena instinctively walked over to him to put a comforting arm around him, but he wouldn't look at her.

"What did I tell you? He's very temperamental," Stefan said to her. "And I told this little one that I was here, expecting her to tell you," Stefan said, looking her directly in the eye.

"Don't try and put the blame on her!" Damon's voice grew stronger. "I meant before now! When Dad died and then everyone around me died, and then mom! You just left me to cope with this by myself!" Elena looked to the floor, suddenly very wary that she was in the middle of a very private conversation.

His older brother tried to look defiant. "You're a big boy, Damon. I thought that you were able to cope with this yourself. I had my own problems to deal with! I was on drugs and didn't get a hit for a few weeks. I was exhausted, malnourished and had the shakes. When I found Kat and made my way here, excuse me if my thoughts weren't on you," he snapped.

Damon's expression was stony. "I was always thinking about you. You couldn't have sent me just one little text telling me you were alive. Thanks a lot." He turned to walk back to their room. "Oh, and one more thing. Keep the god damn noise down," he said without looking at Stefan before he walked back to the room.

Elena stood there, staring at Stefan.

He rolled his eyes. "Don't look at me like that. I know you're judging me."

"Why wouldn't you run to Damon straight away when I told you he was here?" she asked angrily.

"I know my brother, I knew he would react this way. Why do you think I avoided him?"

"The very least you can do is make it up to him. You've hurt him badly."

Stefan snorted. "Just because you're fucking him doesn't give you the right to tell me what to do to make it better. Now run along, sexy, he'll be waiting on you."

Elena turned swiftly and walked away from him. Stefan watched her go, his eyes lingering on her perfect body before he went to join Katherine again on the bed, shaking his head.

The lights were off in their room when Elena walked in and Damon was curled n a ball on his side of the bed. She got in beside him and kisses his shoulder lightly and hugged him. The moonlight gave just enough light to show that the happy picture of Damon and Stefan together was no longer next to him.

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><p><strong>How was that? I hope you enjoyed it and please tell me what you think!<strong>

**Also, I want to know whether you guys want it to have any smut in it. I was thinking of changing the rating to M, depending on what you guys think! I'll put a poll on my profile so you can vote :)**


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